Market Segmentation and Mapping
Not everyone is your customer. Learn to split a market into segments you can target, and to draw a market map that reveals where competitors sit - and where the gaps are.
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Not everyone is your customer 🎯
A business that tries to sell to *everyone* usually appeals to *no one*. Smart businesses split a market into **segments** - groups of customers with something in common - and target the ones they serve best. They also draw a **market map** to see where rivals sit and where the **gaps** are. This module covers both: how to segment a market, and how to map it.
The words you need 🗂️
Four terms run through the whole topic.
Match each way of segmenting to an example 🔗
- Demographic
- Geographic
- Psychographic
- Behavioural
- Grouping by age, gender or income
- Grouping by where customers live
- Grouping by lifestyle, values or interests
- Grouping by how often customers buy or use it
What is segmentation? ✂️
What does market segmentation mean?
- Dividing a market into groups of customers with similar characteristics
- Selling the same product to absolutely everyone in the same way
- Lowering the price until every competitor leaves
- Copying exactly what the biggest competitor does
Why bother segmenting? 📣
Segmenting a market lets a business **focus**. Instead of a vague message aimed at everybody, it can: - **Target its marketing** at the customers most likely to buy\n- **Meet needs better** by tailoring the product, price and message to a segment\n- **Spot gaps** - segments that rivals are ignoring\n\nThe result is less wasted effort and a clearer offer.
Real benefits of segmenting ✅
Select the TWO genuine benefits of segmenting a market.
- The business can target its marketing at the right customers
- The business can spot gaps and unmet customer needs
- It guarantees the business will make a profit
- It removes all competition from the market
Crowded spot or open gap? 🗺️
A market map plots brands on two features (say price and quality). Where they cluster is crowded; where they do not is a gap.
Match each map term to its meaning 🧭
- Market map
- Axis
- Gap in the market
- Direct competitor
- A diagram plotting brands on two chosen features
- One of the two feature scales, such as price or quality
- A position with few or no competitors
- A brand sitting close to yours on the map
What does a market map show? 🔍
A market map, also called a positioning map, shows what?
- How competitors are positioned on two features, revealing gaps
- The exact profit every competitor makes each year
- A full list of every customer's name and address
- The order in which businesses were founded
Plot the premium brand 📈
An interactive activity.
Build and use a market map 🪜
An interactive activity.
Make the business call 🎬
An interactive activity.
Your turn: position the business ✍️
An interactive activity.
The grade-9 habit 🌟
Segmentation and mapping work together: **segment** to decide *which customers* to serve, then **map** the market to decide *how to position* against rivals. The mark-winning judgement is this: a **gap is not automatically an opportunity**. An empty spot on the map is only worth filling if there is real **demand** for it and the business can serve it profitably. Always weigh the gap against the demand.